


Friendsgiving is a Time for Forgiving

by BriMarie



Category: High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (TV)
Genre: Aged Up, Exes to Lovers, F/M, Fights, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Forgiveness, Friendsgiving, Happy Ending, Misunderstandings, Nini Salazar roberts - Freeform, Reconciliation, Ricky Bowen Being an Idiot (HSMTMTS), Ricky Bowen Loves Nini Salazar-Roberts, Set Up, Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving Dinner, exes still in love with each other, high school musical the musical the series - Freeform, honestly there's no angst but idk what else to call it, hsmtmts, rini - Freeform, thanksgiving fight
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-26
Updated: 2020-11-26
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:53:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27517159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BriMarie/pseuds/BriMarie
Summary: EJ and Gina are hosting a Friendsgiving at their place. One problem though. Ricky and Nini are not on good terms and neither know the other is coming. Dinner is about to get interesting.
Relationships: Ricky Bowen & Nini Salazar-Roberts, Ricky Bowen/Nini Salazar-Roberts
Comments: 9
Kudos: 38





	Friendsgiving is a Time for Forgiving

**Author's Note:**

> Please read notes at the bottom! I want your opinion on something, thanks!

"Do you think we're making the right decision?"

Gina had been nervous and jumpy all day due to her and her husband hosting Thanksgiving for the first time as a couple. That by itself was already enough pressure even though all of the guest are bringing a dish, but there was another thing stressing her out more.

EJ rested his hand on her shoulder and gave it a light squeeze. "Don't sweat it babe. I think they'll eventually warm up to each other after the first hour or maybe even make up."

Gina gives him an unsure look; he sighs knowing that was unrealistic. "Okay, so maybe they'll just side eye each other the whole night. If it gets any worse, we'll just ask them to stay away from each other for the remainder of the party or leave."

Gina folded her arms. "I knew I should've just told them, or maybe just choose which one I wanted over."

"Don't beat yourself up. We both know that there was no way in hell that we'd be able to choose between the two. Plus, we always spend Thanksgiving with both of them, and I don't plan on stopping tradition because of their falling out."

"You're right. I just hope they won't be too mad that we invited them both. I never actually said the other was coming when I invited them over. I made sure to put them as far from each other in the dining room table to avoid a screaming match. Also, the others said they'd keep them in check if they started going at it. We don't want a repeat of Memorial Day weekend."

EJ smiled. "See? Everything will be alright, so stop stressing yourself out too much. All the food is prepared, and the house is set up. We just have to chill for the next hour until our guest arrive."

Gina wasn't fully reassured, but she did feel a little better. She wrapped an arm around him and grinned. "Yeah you're right. Let's just chill for now."

EJ pecked her forehead before they walked to the couch. Gina kept on a smile for him so he wouldn't be worried about her, but she couldn't help but feel as if something bad was gonna happen. 

***

It was finally time, and Gina's hands had been sweating like crazy. Everyone except Ricky and Nini had arrived. She had told Nini to come a little earlier on purpose so they didn't bump into each other outside and bail.

Everyone was mentally prepared for the worst possible outcome tonight so nothing could throw them off. They all had a cup of white wine knowing it was going to be much needed today. Gina had been anxiously eyeing the clock and the door knowing Nini would be there any second now.

EJ rested his palm on her shaking leg. "Sweetheart it's gonna be okay."

The sound of the doorbell rang throughout the quaint home causing everyone to stare at the door with worry on their faces. Gina gulped as she made her way to her door. She took a deep breath before opening the door.

Nini smiled as she held up a pumpkin pie. "Happy Thanksgiving!"

Gina painted a fake smile as she held the door open for her. Gina gave her a quick hug before she sat the pie down on the counter.

"Looks like everyone beat me here! I hope I didn't miss anything."

The others all gave her an awkward smile. EJ pours her a glass of wine. "You didn't miss anything. We were just rewatching the Macy's day parade. Here, take this wine you'll need this."

She declines his offer. "Imma hold off on drinking until later." She walks over to the living room and joins Kourtney and Carlos on the couch.

EJ left the glass on the counter knowing damn well she was gonna need it in a few minutes. The rest of the gang was enjoying the peace as much as they could knowing it'd be a warzone soon. Soon came faster than they thought. The doorbell rang, making everyone go still.

Nini was confused by it. "Wait I thought everyone was already here."

Gina got up from her seat. "Not exactly." She walked over to the door and slowly opened it. The others couldn't see who came in from their point of view since the door was blocking their sight.

"Hey Gi, happy Thanksgiving. I brought the gin you guys asked for."

Nini didn't even have to turn around to know who that voice was. She already felt her blood boil under her skin. She turned her head over her shoulder and saw him walk in. She felt her heart drop at the sight of him.

He overall looked the same since she last saw him six months ago. The only real difference is that his curls seemed longer, and he grew out a bit of his facial hair. He always kept it groomed for her when they were together since his beard was itchy, so she wasn't that shocked by his appearance.

He didn't even notice all eyes on him as he sat the gin in the fridge. That is until he saw the familiar brunette in his side view. At first, he thought he was imagining her. But then they met eyes.

He couldn't make out the expression on her face; it was blank as she scanned him as if she were trying to figure out if he were really there. He gave her a once over noticing she hasn't changed at all except the fact that she had blond highlights.

The others watched the two stare each other down feeling the rising tension consume the room. EJ cleared his throat to break the ice. "Okay now that everyone is here, we can start the games."

The rest of the group all perked up desperately wanting to change the atmosphere. They all brought some of the games they had planned out while Ricky and Nini were still staring at each other.

Nini broke her eye contact from him when she felt someone tap her arm. Gina sat beside Nini with the glass EJ poured earlier, handing it to her. "I figured you'd need this."

Nini gave Gina a blank face as she took the glass and downed it. Nini knew this was gonna be a long night.

The gang had been engrossed in their game of charades, but Ricky and Nini couldn't focus. They had been sneaking glances at each other the entire game when the other wasn't looking. Nini had eventually excused herself to the kitchen claiming she wanted some more wine.

Gina had followed her into the kitchen. "Sorry."

Nini didn't even look up as she poured the bottle. "Why didn't you tell me he'd be here?"

"Because you wouldn't have come if I told you he was."

Nini scoffed. "You don't know that."

"Oh come on Neens, you know damn well that you'd find some lame excuse not to come had you known."

Nini huffed and mumbled something incoherent under her breath. Nini had filled the glass until it was almost spilling over.

"EJ and I didn't want to spend the holiday without one of you. It wouldn't feel the same. We've been doing Friendsgiving with the whole gang since freshman year of college. I made sure you guys would be seated away from each other though. Just try to avoid him all night if you can."

Nini scowled at her as she drank some of her glass. "Oh trust me, I'll be doing everything in my power to avoid being in the same area as him all night."

"Thanks for doing this."

Nini waves her off. "It's whatever."

Nini made her way back to her spot with Gina following after. Nini had accidentally looked over at Ricky and was a little surprised to see he had already been looking at her. He quickly averted his eyes from her to Carlos who was acting out for the game.

She didn't miss the blush he got from being caught. She just rolled her eyes and avoided looking at him for the duration of the game. 

***

They had remained pretty tame throughout the night. They'd always try to avoid being within a few feet of each other. The closest they got was when they were in the kitchen at the same time. But come on, is it really an American Thanksgiving unless there's at least one big fight?

Gina had just set down the turkey in the center happy at how the dinner was set up. "Alright everyone it's time to eat!"

Red and EJ ran to the dining room before the others plopping down in their designated spots with everyone else following soon after. Ricky and Nini sat on opposite sides of the table to avoid any controversary.

Gina had been eyeing them both down every once in a while and noticed they'd both sneak glances at one another, which made her smile. The dinner had been going on pretty well until Big Red decided to say some dumb shit.

Big Red smiled down at his screen. "Awe look at my cousin's wedding dress! She's gonna look amazing."

Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at Red in disbelief before turning their attention to Ricky and Nini. Ashlyn and EJ both kicked Red under the table causing him to yelp.

"Ow what was that for?!"

Ashlyn motioned between the exes, and he realized his mistake. Anything related to marriage around either Ricky or Nini was bound to start something between the pair. Nini glanced over at Ricky and gave him a dirty look.

"Oh is that so? I wish I could relate. Congrats to your cousin though." She aggressively stuck her fork into her food.

The rest of the table groaned knowing what was about to go down.

Ricky rolled his eyes. "Don't start Nini."

"No, you know what? I am gonna start. I mean, this was bound to happen eventually right? We can't be in the same room without clashing at least once."

"Calm down. You don't want to talk about this in front of everyone."

Nini laughed with no humor. "Does it matter where I decide to yell at you? They were gonna overhear us anyways."

Ricky dropped his fork and glared at her, giving into her. "You know what? Fine, let's get all of our feelings out on the table. I'll start. I wasn't ready for that yet!"

"What do you mean you weren't ready for that? We dated for seven fucking years Ricky! And you chose the worse possible way to break it off. Who just leaves after being proposed to without actually answering?!"

"I had a lot going on that day! You had bad timing and when I tried to reach out to you after I ran off, you refused to answer for a solid month!"

"Well what did you expect?! I was fucking heartbroken!" She scoots out her chair and stands up. "I've suddenly lost my appetite." She takes her glass of wine and storms out of the room.

Ricky got out of his chair too. "I'm gonna go get some air." He left before someone could stop him.

The rest of the table all stared at each other. Red awkwardly scratched the back of his head. "My bad."

The others all glared at him. Gina sighed in defeat. "So much for a peaceful Thanksgiving." 

***

The others all finish dinner allowing the two ex lovers to chill down. Gina had told EJ to go find Ricky while she went to talk to Nini. She knew she ran off to one of the rooms but didn't see which one she went to.

She opened each door until she finally found her lying face down on the guest room bed. Gina sighed as she shut the door behind her.

"Nini."

"I don't wanna talk about it."

"You know we eventually have to."

She stayed silent for a moment before groaning and rolling onto her back. "I know."

Gina sat down beside her. She noticed it appeared as if Nini had been crying for the past 30 minutes, which made her feel bad. She knew it was her fault that this whole thing happened.

She should've never assumed that Nini and Ricky would get along magically without being told ahead of time that the other would be here.

"I'm sorry I blew up like that. I know you wanted a tame dinner, but hearing about someone being happy about their upcoming wedding opens old scars for me. Doesn't excuse my behavior though."

Gina snakes her hand into hers. "Don't you dare feel bad for yelling. That's on me for thinking you'd be able to handle being in the same room as Ricky. I'm so sorry; I should've told you both."

"True, but still what I did was still childish. Sorry for ruining dinner."

"You didn't ruin dinner. If anything, you kinda spiced it up. I mean, it's not Thanksgiving until someone bites someone's head off right?"

That got a chuckle from Nini. "I suppose."

Gina crawled over to the empty side of the bed lying on her back beside Nini. They sat in comfortable silence for a little while before Nini rolled to her side to face Gina.

"Did I make a mistake ignoring him?"

Gina wasn't ready for such an intense question. She rolled onto her side, mimicking Nini. "Do you think it was a mistake?"

"No...kinda...maybe? I don't know what I think."

"Well on a scale of one to ten, ten being amazing, how has your life been without Ricky?"

Nini began to think about the six months of waking up alone. She remembered how sad she was the first full month without him. She tended to feel her heart break every time she saw the empty spot on her bed and when she saw that his favorite mug wasn't sitting on the counter.

She hated not fighting over who ordered in the food tonight and who had control over the remote even though they both knew he'd just give into her anyways. She missed the date nights spent aimlessly roaming the town and stargazing.

She missed his lively laugh and how profound his dimples were when he was genuinely smiling. She missed his warm hugs and loving kisses before they went to bed.

She missed _him_.

She hadn't even noticed the single tear rolling down her cheek. "1."

"Well if life has been sucky without him, maybe you should hear him out. I'm pretty sure he had a good reason for chickening out on you like that. Ricky isn't the best at communicating his feelings, but he does always have a reason for acting out."

"Yeah you're right. I should've just listened to him. We could've worked it out or something by now."

"Don't kick yourself. You had every right to be angry with him that night. I'm just saying it's time to either get back together or at least find some way to get back to being friends again. Either way he'd be in your life, and we can all be a happy family again."

"I'll try to talk to him."

Gina smiled. "I'm proud of you."

They both pulled each other into a hug. Their moment was interrupted by the sound of the door opening. Both looked up to see Ricky standing in the entrance with a pitiful expression on his face.

"Sorry if I ruined something, but I was wondering if I could talk to Nini alone."

Gina looked over at Nini to make sure she was cool with it, and she gave her a reassuring smile.

"Yeah, I'll just leave you two to it." She turned back to Nini. "Good luck."

She hopped off the bed and patted Ricky's shoulder as she made her way out, closing the door behind herself.

Ricky took a few steps closer to her but still kept his distance. The first minute was spent gazing at each other waiting for him to finally speak up. He finally cleared his throat.

"We need to talk about that night."

"I agree."

"I should probably start with why I ran off."

"Yeah that'd be a good starting point."

"Mind if I sit down?" He gestured to the spot beside her. She scooted to make more room for him, and he plopped down beside her.

"I didn't run away because I didn't want to be with you."

She raises a brow. "Then why would you run if you wanted to be with me?"

"Truth is I was afraid of how extreme that kind of commitment was at the time. That's something I'd have to sleep on for sure, but my brain decided that walking away was easier to do I guess. It was dumb, but it's not like I'm known for making bright decisions under pressure."

That didn't really add up to her. "You thought that being committed to me was something to be afraid of?"

He shook his head. He unintentionally grabbed her thigh, and she seemed to not notice it either. "No! That's not it at all! I love the idea of being with you. I was afraid of us ending on bad terms like my parents and like most of the couples around us. I didn't want something as magical as our relationship to be ruined by marriage."

"Ricky, why would you give up before we could even figure out if we would make it or not?"

He shrugged. "Fear will make you do stupid things Neens. I let it get in between you and I, and that's something I've regretted for months now. I'm so sorry for ditching you like that with no explanation for such a silly reason. I tried to reach out but quit when I realized I'd lost you."

Nini felt a little more understanding about his reasoning but was still a little upset. "You didn't completely lose me." She saw a twinkle of hope in his eyes.

"I didn't?"

"No, I was just angry, but I don't think the feelings ever really went away."

"I feel the same way."

She smiled. "Yeah?"

"Mm hm." He squeezed her thigh. They sat in comfortable silence again as they let their confessions sink in. She rested her hand on top of his. He snuck his hand into hers, and they both felt a familiar electric feeling shock them.

It was the same one they got every time they held hands. Both had almost forgotten what it felt like.

Ricky rubbed his thumb on her hand. "We should probably get back. They probably think we killed each other."

She chuckled. "Yeah let's go."

He helps her off the bed without letting go of her hand. Right before he was about to open the door, she stopped his hand.

He was about to ask what's wrong before she wrapped her arms around his torso resting her head on his heart. He held her just as tight resting his chin on her head. He felt himself smile as he melted into her embrace. One of the many things he missed about her was her hugs. They always made his days better.

Without thinking, he reached down to give her a kiss on the forehead. He didn't even register that he did it, but she did. She blushed and looked up at him. She got on her toes and surprised him with a peck on the cheek. He jumped at the lip contact, and she giggled when she saw how rosy his cheeks got.

She releases him from their hug and holds his hand. "Come on, we never got to finish dinner." He just nodded and let her drag him out the room still trying to decipher if that happened or not.

Though it wasn't said, both knew that what they had was too special to just give up on. They had a lot of work to do, and they'd do anything possible to make sure they would rekindle. And they'd be damned if they spent another second in life without each other.

***

_If we really want to love, we must learn how to forgive_

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Thanksgiving to all of my American readers! I hope you had a lovely dinner if you celebrated!
> 
> I thought of a new enemies to lovers with a pinch of smut fic, but I think it'll come out in January cuz it's long and I have a few fics already planned for December. We'll see though. Quick question, would y'all prefer a long ass one shot or a multi chapter (it’d be like 10 chapters or so) of that? Let me know cuz I keep jumping between the two.
> 
> Quote is by Mother Teresa.
> 
> Til' next time!


End file.
